Heroes in High Heels
by IronSparrow99
Summary: Put five of the Avenger's female counterparts in a limo. Add a country full of possibilities and kangaroos, and nerds with guns, knives, and and a taser. Mix well. And take cover. Part of the Iron Beta universe. **Formerly known as The Good, the Bad, and the High Heels** I apologize for the numerous title changes.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Come on, Taylor, the girls are waiting outside!"

"Coming, Tasha, give me a minute!" I call to the impatient red head on the other side of my door.

I shoulder my handbag, straighten my dress, and spritz perfume on my wrist before unlocking and opening my bedroom door.

"You do realize that my dad owns the jet, right? It won't leave till we are ready?" I question Natasha as we head out to where our limo waits to take us to the airport.

"I realize that, Taylor, but did you want to keep Betty, Jane, and Darcy waiting?"

I roll my eyes. "Darcy is probably immersed in her IPod right now while Betty and Jane discuss science. They could have waited five more minutes."

Natasha sighs and drags me towards the lobby doors.

We were going to the airport with Jane Foster, Betty Ross, and Darcy Lewis – each of which had just flown in from their respective homes - to go to Australia for a girl's night. Since eighteen was the legal drinking age there, all of us – even Darcy and I – could drink and keep our minds off of our male counterparts.

Well, except Darcy and Tasha, who were single. But Darcy should be a funny drunk.

Thor was ecstatic to learn of Jane coming to New York, along with his 'small shield-sister' Darcy. I liked Darcy, because she was my age, wielded a taser, and was weirder than me. Bruce and Betty were taking another shot at being a couple, because General Ross was currently grounded overseas and all records available to him showed Betty in a false location.

Courtesy of yours truly.

Jane was looking to get hired in the R&amp;D department of Stark Industries, as a partner/assistant to Bruce mainly, but the all-around brainpower was welcomed.

I open the door to the lobby a just get a glimpse of the quickly darkening sky before I have to catch an armful of intern.

"Taylor! Hi, hey, hi, hi!"

"Okay," I say as I pry Darcy off me and playfully glare towards the two scientists restraining giggles by the limo, "Who gave Darcy sugar?"

The giggles are no longer restrained as Darcy hugs me again, gentler this time. "Good to see you, bolt buckets."

"Whatever you say, sparky." I roll my eyes at my nickname and fire back with her nickname, given because of the taser on her hip.

We laugh as I make my way over to Jane and Betty and give them hugs. "Hey Jane, Betty, long time no see! Hey did you read that one theory-"

"-by that one guy, in that one place? Yes, I did."

I scowl as Jane ruffles my hair. "Told you not to do that, Jane!"

"Sorry, sorry, couldn't help myself."

I sigh as open the limo door, climbing through to the bench in the back with Darcy as Jane, Betty, and Natasha file into the sides.

"So…"

You can almost hear the crickets chirping as silence yawns between us, the product of occasional meetings and states' worth of distances.

"Hey Tasha, you're not dating Clint yet?" Darcy breaks the silence, amiable as always.

"No, that'd be me."

Darcy's eyes widen as she stares at me as her eyes widen behind her thick black-frame glasses.

"Really? You? With Clint?"

"M-hm."

"How did Tony react to that? Please tell you have footage…"

"Oh, do I ever! Jarvis, pull up that footage on my phone. Jane, Betty, want to see?"

At their eager nods, I twist in my seat so everyone can see the screen and press play.

"_-junk mail, bill, parking citation for the Quinjet…"_

"The Quinjet gets citations?"

"Yes, Darcy, until Tasha scares them off. Now shush."

She does, and the girls watch with bated breath as the tension in the room rises as Clint and my dad go toe-to-toe.

"_-defending your girlfriend."_

"Low blow, Tony, low blow!"

"_Maybe I am."_

Darcy jumps out of her seat. "What? But he just said you weren't dating! And-"

"Darcy, sit down and shush! You missed Clint being sappy."

Darcy returns to her seat only to get up again and squeal when Clint dips me and kisses me. The rest of the girls coo and wolf-whistle, jostling my shoulders as I try not to blush at the memory, months old or not.

There's laughter all around at my dad's gaping face, Steve's blush, and Natasha and Bruce's money exchange.

"Hey Tasha, what were you and Bruce betting on?"

"How long it would take birdbrain to ask you out after that 'outing' the night before."

"Outing? What outing? Was it a date?"

I sigh. "No, I don't think so." I briefly recount what went down the night before the scene we just watched, before changing the subject. "So, Tasha, got your eye on any prizes?"

Natasha lets out something between a sigh and a groan as we all turn curious, nosy gazes on her. "The answer to that is still no, and I don't know why you still ask."

"Well, my dad used to tell me that if you ask a question enough, the answer will change."

I give Darcy, Jane and Betty high fives as Natasha rolls her eyes.

Silence blankets the car again until a new punk song streams through the radio.

"Ohh, turn it up! I _love _this song!" Darcy bounces in her seat as I relay her message to the driver, and pretty soon we are all singing our lungs out, laughing until we cry, and looking forward to Aussie-land.

I just hope _it _is ready for _us_.

**A/N**

**This will be multi chaptered. I got the idea for this from Nienna Nir's **_**Real Women Wear Dresses. **_**You should go check it out. No plagiarism intended.**

**Love, read, and review!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Back before Afghanistan, back when my dad was Mr. Partying Playboy, I never really understood why. Granted, I was thirteen at the time, so I was not too concerned about that fact, but still.

But as I walk into the _Wilted Rose_, I understand.

Not the playboy part. The bit about drinking.

And I'm not saying I approve of my dad's alcoholic in denial tendencies, either, just that a harmless drink now and then takes a load off one's shoulders.

Natasha pulls me to a table in the front, near the bar and far from the more rambunctious clubbers.

We all set our purses under the table as Natasha takes orders for drinks. We fade into easy small talk as we make some old geezer at one of Jane's science conventions the butt of our jokes.

"And then he's all like, 'Well back in _my_ day…'"

The table bursts into laughter.

"I wonder….if he….knew Steve!" I gasp out as I grasp my aching ribs.

"I truly would not put it past him. Seriously, that dude was ancient! So then-"

Jane drops off mid-sentence and jumps up to help Natasha with the drinks.

Betty takes her grasshopper – which I'm pretty sure she ordered as a joke, it practically _glows _green, Jane holds a huge margarita, Darcy is holding a fruity cocktail, and Natasha is holding a Bloody Mary with a shot of vodka – yes, I am aware of the irony here.

Natasha hands me a glass of a familiar bubbly brown substance, although it smells like my dad used to every other night. Rum and Coke, I assume.

Well, my dad likes it.

I take a cautious sip, wincing as it burns down my throat.

"Don't worry, it'll get better. And I strongly recommend cutting off at one. Everyone here is smart enough to have their lives on track at the moment."

I nod along with the others. Natasha snorts.

"Yes, at the moment. Next week yet another apocalypse will come, thanks to the maniac of the week."

We all chuckle as I shrug at the only-too-true description.

The speakers blast a song with a baseline that rattles the glass behind the bar as we sip our drinks and tell stories from our lives dating superheroes. And _being _superheroes, in Tasha and I's case.

The _Wilted Rose_ is by no means a posh new club for teenagers. That's not to say it doesn't have a few wild cards – I see you, guy doing the worm in the back – but the main room is about half full. The bartender is an older guy with a pudgy belly that only suits old guys like him, his minimal amount of hair is styled in what Tasha says is a comb-over, and he looks bored.

"So," Darcy draws me from my thoughts, "what exactly _is_ a girl's night? I truly have no idea."

I think for a moment and shrug. "No idea. I'm a nerd who is new at this game."

I glance at the older three women for answers, but Betty scratches her neck and looks embarrassed, and Jane looks thoughtful but shakes her head.

Natasha is looking at us with a strange expression blanketing her face. "Wow, you really _are_ nerds. What did any off you do in college?"

"Uh, I literally had my head in the stars."

"I was busy winning science fair."

"And I'm still in college."

"…I was sixteen, Tasha."

The rest of the groups sends me curious looks, which I just shrug to in response. MIT really is not that hard with my genes and brain and 198 IQ.

Natasha just shakes her head and tucks a lock of fire-red hair behind her ear. "Girls night is where members of the female gender gather for the consumption if alcohol and the berating of their male peers."

Jane and Betty nod quickly and lean back, satisfied. Darcy slowly turns tome with a raised eyebrow.

"Girls form packs and go out to get drunk and whine about guys." I clarify.

"Oh…I get it."

"_All _guys," Jane adds, with a quick glance at Betty. "Not just boyfriends."

Betty nods in understanding. I shift in my seat as we begin to encroach on dangerous subject territory.

Natasha sees this and quickly jumps into a story on one of her less gruesome and classified missions.

I lean back against the fraying upholstery and let the Coke bubbles tickle my tongue as Natasha tells the story of some of the dumbest criminals I have ever heard.

Jane then follows with her and Darcy recounting how they first met everyone's favorite god.

"You _tazed, _of all things, the god of _lightning?_" I question incredulously.

Darcy blushes. "Hey, in my defense, he was acting like a drunk hobo! And I am a jumpy person!"

We all laugh at the mental image of a tazer-happy intern standing over a big, buff, hunched form on a deserted road in New Mexico.

And then laugh even harder at Darcy's expression.

"Okay, subject change! Taylor, I saw your dad on the news one time, and he was with this model…"

I sigh as Darcy babbles about a year-old case of mistaken identity on my dad's part.

"…and then she left. What the heck was going on?"

"Wow, you guys are worse than the press! Jeez. So the thing is, my dad had just found out his favorite coffee shop had gone bankrupt-"

"Because of him, presumably."

"Yeah. And my dad minus coffee equals a delusional and emotional version of my dad. Imagine a psychic pregnant woman in a mental hospital."

We all shudder and flinch. Even Black Widow herself.

"I mean seriously, peanut butter and pickles? Outside of pregnant women, who finds that appetizing? So we run into this model at a gala about a week after he hears about the bankruptcy. She was Latino, I think, and then my dad goes…"

I run on and on about my dad acting like the love child of a chicken and gorilla because he was on caffeine withdrawal, being a rude equivalent of a five year old, and ruining the complexion of Miss Brazil 2012.

Betty follows this with stories of pre-Hulk, college Bruce, and we all laugh as his science fair project explodes, taking his dignity for the year with it.

She's just launching into a tale about the time Bruce tried to genetically mutate her rabbit when our attention is diverted by a buzzing noise.

I sigh as I glance at my now lit up phone.

I barely get to glance at the unrecognizable number before everything inside goes silent.

And then the widows shatter inwards.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Are you _sure _this was a good idea?" I wonder aloud as I turn and walk back the way I came.

Steve sighs and looks up from his charcoal lined paper. "Clint, seriously, calm down. Please. The girls can take care of themselves. I don't know why you worry so much."

"That," Tony interjects, mid-spin on a chair he stole – sorry, _borrowed_ – from one of the offices. "and your pacing is making me dizzy. Seriously, cool your jets, I think I can find a Hunger Games rerun if you want."

I sigh and nod resignedly as I slump into one of the overstuffed couches.

I try and focus on the screen, I really do, but even critiquing Katniss can't divert my mind enough.

Just as she finds Peeta in the mud my brain kicks back into worried rant mode.

"I mean, she _is_ only eighteen. And she isn't fully armed. And she might be drunk. All of them might be drunk. Well, not Tasha, but everyone else. What if she gets hurt? Or alcohol poisoning? Or mugged? Or attacked by an animal of some sort. Or-"

"Clint!" I snap out of my frenzy to see Bruce sending exasperated looks my way from his bar stool. "Breathe."

I do.

"Taylor will be perfectly fine. She is just going out with some female friends to release and have fun. Most of those people have high enough IQ's to rival Einstein-"

"-or thirty eight points higher-"

"Yes, Tony, I know. Anyways, they will not lose all inhibitions because of one innocent drink. Even if that does, by some miracle, happen, Natasha will die of alcohol poisoning before she gets drunk."

"Yes," Thor adds in his two cents. "Our shield sisters are simply enjoying a night of merriment. Even if they are not armed with the sharpest of blades, their hands and feet serve better than most weapons. Furthermore, I am of the utmost certainty that Lady Darcy carries what you call a 'tazer'."

"So, Clint, your feathers are needlessly ruffled. Taylor will be fine. She is in great company, responsible company, and I can tell you right now she has at least one knife somewhere on her person. Plus, you are forgetting that all of them are either dating world renowned superheroes or are world renowned superheroes themselves. That takes guts and thick skin." Tony points out.

I allow myself a small smile as I relax back into the couch as I lock the frantic worry in the back of my head.

Nobody notices me grab my phone and fire off a quick message.

**To: Taylor**

**Hey. Just checking in, making sure you're in 1 piece. Stay in 1 piece please. Everything good here. Have fun. Love you.**

I sigh contently as the message sends. I settle back to surf channels and watch Steve, Thor, and Tony debate the modern world while Bruce tries not to laugh.

"Clint, you were in the army, right?"

I blink at Tony. "Uh, yeah. Before S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Rank?"

"Specialist…why?"

"Cap here thinks that the army has lost all of its grit to government 'ruffles'. Captain, Evidence A." Tony waves a hand dramatically at me.

Steve and I just roll our eyes as Bruce distracts Tony with science and big words Taylor would understand, but not me.

I flick through more channels and the chatter eventually fades to uncomfortable silence.

"So…guy's night. Poker, anyone?"

Bruce shakes his head as I snort. "Tasha won't let me play anymore on the promise of a painful death. She says I can somehow see the cards."

Tony shrugs.

He and Steve end up playing a high spirited game of War, while Bruce explains the absence of any weapons in the game, and I find a game show that is better than nothing.

I glance at my phone to see it still silent and black.

_Maybe she is just having a good time and missed it come in._

_She is just enjoying herself, no need to panic…_

_No panicking…_

I flip channels again as the game show ends.

_Drama…no._

_Music…nah._

_infomercial…never._

_Explosion…okay._

I tilt my head as a news reel comes on talking about a bar in Australia.

"Hey guys, come check this out."

The guys gather around the couch as an Australian reporter drones on and on about a shockwave type explosion that silenced the bar. One guy was impaled on a glass shard and two more were flown out to nearby hospitals.

"Wasn't Australia where the girls were?"

All heads swivel to Bruce as he cautiously voices his thoughts.

"Australia is a big place, Bruce."

"I get that, Steve, just pointing out a thought."

I bite my lip as the attention is turned back to the reporter.

"_-witnesses say the glass flew towards-"_

She is cut off mid-sentence by a deafening burst of static and white noise. Tony immediately rushes to check the T.V.

"Huh, that is weird."

"What?"

"I don't think it is our problem. Someone try and change the channel."

I snatch the remote from Steve's bewildered gaze and press the 'up channel' button.

The white noise is overtaken by a Spanish talk show.

"So not on our end then."

I run a hand through my hair and turn a questioning gaze on Tony.

"She is _fine,_ Clint."

"Come on. One phone call?"

"…fine. Jarvis, patch me through to Taylor's cell number."

"…Ms. Stark did not answer, sir."

Without missing a beat, Tony continues.

"Her press line?"

"…no response."

Tony's brow furrows almost imperceptibly.

"Private line?"

"…negative, sir."

By now Tony is frowning fully.

"That's odd, she usually picks that up."

"Sir, I am having trouble reaching any devices within a five mile radius of her location. Shall I-"

"Yes, Jarvis. Voice authorization: activate line Delta, Oscar, Oscar, Mike."

"Voice authorization complete. Establishing connection…"

Jarvis goes silent.

"Sir, the line is not connecting."

Tony lets out a string of vehement curses.

"She would never, _ever_ ignore that line. That is a doomsday, worst case scenario precaution."

"I don't think it's a problem of them not answering," Bruce cuts in, "but of the line not connecting in the first place." He points to the T.V.

"So something is blocking all signals…Give me a second." Tony jogs towards the elevator.

I fiddle with my phone awkwardly as I wait for him to return from wherever he is.

When he does, there's a little more panic in his eyes.

"Taylor left her bow, quiver, all her guns, and two knives. Which means-"

"-she is guarding three civilians with two of her presumably smallest knives. And we can't reach any of them."

"Can't we scramble the jet?"

"No, Steve. We don't know how high the block goes, and our plane could just hit it and turn into a falling hunk of metal."

I sigh and plop onto the couch. "What now?"

"…we wait and hope for the best."

I groan.

_I hope she's okay…_

**A/N**

**I'm going to make this a split POV story. Taylor and Clint. **

**Also, is tazer spelled with an 's' or a 'z'?**

**Please read and review, review, review!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I was _not _okay.

I _was_ crouched behind an upturned table almost weaponless trying to keep Jane from getting hit by the glass and bullets that were flying through the air.

So not okay.

"Why did I leave almost all my weapons at home again?" I shout as I duck down to avoid a plate.

"I do not know!" Natasha shouts back, about three feet to my left, behind a booth with Darcy. "But it was the mother of all stupid ideas!"

"Tasha," I dodge again, "I'm a genius! It is impossible for me to be stupid!"

"Well, you're sure acting like it!"

"Guys?" Betty speaks up from somewhere behind me. "Please tell me we have a plan."

_Plan…plan. Right._

I take a deep breath and let the gears in my brain whirl.

"Does anyone still have their phone? We need to contact the guys."

I faintly hear Natasha mutter something about damsels in distress and some scuffling before Darcy shouts triumphantly. "Got it!"

"Good work, Darcy! Now…how is your throwing arm?"

Darcy nods and tosses the phone towards me. I lean back on my haunches and throw an arm out to catch the phone before rolling back behind the table.

I power on the phone and try and call someone back in New York.

The phone beeps and alerts me that I have no service and even less battery.

And then it goes dark, turning into basically a shiny paperweight.

"Dead zone!" I yell out and I wince as something hits the table.

"Pocket it." Jane suggests next to me. "You never know."

"So, Taylor," Betty speaks up again, "You're saying we are stranded with whatever _that _is and no way to get back up?"

"Or home." I add.

"Wonderful." Darcy groans.

"Natasha," I call out, "Weapons check?"

"Gun, gun, knife, and knife. You?"

"Two tiny throwing knives. You have got to teach me where to hide them."

"Noted."

"Does anyone know how to use a gun? Besides Natasha and I?"

Darcy and Betty both nod. "You made me take that conceal and carry class last month."

"And aren't you glad, Darcy."

"Jane, do you know how to shoot?"

Jane shakes her head. "Guns make me nervous."

I sigh and nod. "You may have to step out of your comfort zone here."

Jane nods hesitantly.

"Tasha, toss me a gun."

I catch the pistol and check and load it before setting it down by my foot. "Tasha, gun or knife?"

"Don't know. Betty, guns or knives?"

"Preferably guns."

"Right. Here." Natasha tosses her other gun at Betty, who expertly catches it and checks it. "Taylor, toss your knives."

I slip my throwing knives out of their holsters on my ankle and side, sliding them across the floor towards her.

She grabs them and flips them, testing their weight before nodding and slipping them into…somewhere, I can't really tell.

"Okay, another weapons check. Taylor, gun. Betty has a gun. Darcy has a tazer. I have four knives. Jane…is unarmed, and that is not good."

I let thoughts roll in my head. "We could give Jane the tazer."

"But then Darcy is unprotected."

"Oh. Right. Um…we could…"

"We could give Darcy one of Tasha's bigger knives and cover her, giving Jane the tazer."

I blink at Betty. "Okay…it's not optimal, but none of this is. Darcy, toss me the tazer."

Darcy shoots me a mournful glance but throws the tazer anyways. I catch it and pass it to Jane, who gives it a glare and me a dubious look.

"Jane." I roll my eyes. "It is not a gun. Point and shoot. Don't hit us. But you need to carry it. Come on."

Jane sighs and nods, gingerly talking the tazer like it was going to explode.

"Now Jane has a tazer, Betty has a gun, Darcy has a knife and armed protection, Tasha has three knives and her fists and feet, and I have a gun and my minimal hand-to-hand skills. It looks like we are going to do this the hard way, girls."

Betty sighs. "Have we ever done any differently?"

"No. But still, get ready to fight your way out."

Betty nods.

"Alright. Tasha, keep Darcy close behind you. Betty, help me keep an eye on Jane. Jane, stay close. Remember, point and shoot. Do not hit me."

Jane nods meekly.

"Do. Not. Hit. Me. Understood?" I look her in the eye, and she nods stronger this time.

I check her tazer and flick the safety, picking up my gun and doing the same. I glance at Betty to see her holding her gin as well, a steely glint in her eyes.

I look at Natasha, who readies her knife and nods at me. "Are we ready?"

"Ready, Taylor." Natasha.

"Affirmative." Betty.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Jane.

"We got this, right?" and Darcy.

And me. I wonder if this is what Steve feels like before battle.

I take a deep breath and raise my gun. "On three."

"One."

Darcy readies her knife.

"Two."

Natasha gets ready to spring.

"Three!"

Natasha and I leap over our respective tables, Darcy and Jane right behind us as Betty guards their tails.

The _Wilted Rose _really is wilted. All the widows are shattered, glass crunching beneath our heeled feet. All the booths are riddled with glass shards, and Darcy whimpers at the body by the wall.

The only living occupants of the room are the five of us, but our various weapons are kept at the ready just in case.

Natasha shoots me a glance, and I make and hand gesture for her to continue.

We creep silently through the bar, three pairs of eyes sweeping the room and ceiling for threats and danger.

We find none, but our muscles stay tense and rigid as I somehow find myself in the lead, Natasha by my shoulder and Jane huddled behind me. Darcy is shaking but standing tall behind Natasha. Betty is looking fully like a General's daughter; stiff-backed and clenching her gun.

I take another deep breath and I lead them out into the night.

**A/N**

**Should I split the POV's per chapter? Like, half Taylor half Clint?**

**Keep reading and reviewing!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"I did not sign up for this!"

I glance at Darcy for her to elaborate.

"I signed up for a girl's night in a bar in Australia. I did not, however, sign up for me and my girlfriends to be walking through the streets, armed and in a dead zone with no way to get help or home!"

I sigh as I turn around and step backwards, Natasha stepping in to the lead position as I fall into stride with Darcy. "Darcy, you really should have known your life was in a downwards spiral of abnormal-ness the moment you pulled your tazer on Thor. Your boss is dating a god. A god whose brother tried to take over the world. Your best friend graduated college at sixteen and she is the daughter of a world renowned genius. You have daily, friendly interactions with the world's top crime-fighting team. Who used to belong to a government organization nobody was supposed to know about. And you knew about that."

Darcy blinks at me, her hazel eyes owlish behind her thick-framed glasses. "How is this my life?"

I just laugh and pat her on the shoulder. "Just wait till Jane takes that job at the Tower."

I laugh again at Darcy's horrified, gaping face as I jog forward to retake my position at the front.

"Where is everyone?"

"Same place they were last time you asked that, Jane."

"Yeah, and where is that?"

"I…don't know."

Jane was right. We had been walking for some time now (no real estimate of time, all our watches and phones were fried) and not once had we seen any more than a tumbleweed.

I didn't know where all the living creatures had gone, but the night chill left an ominous feeling on my shoulders.

"Let's just keep moving. We'll be out of this dead zone and home before you can say 'ominous'. Darcy," I beckon the intern forward, "Keep an eye on this. Tell me as soon as it gets signal." I place the phone I had given Natasha to hold. Darcy nods and takes the phone.

"So, what is the plan now?" Betty speaks up from behind.

I sigh and run a hand through my hair. "The plan now is to walk until we get a signal and call back to New York. Shoot or stab anything malicious looking."

Betty nods as we round the corner of a dark shop.

And stop in our tracks.

Because before us is an army of kangaroos and koalas, looking _very _mad, held back by some mysterious wall.

We all raise our weapons cautiously as we creep towards the army of snarling marsupials.

I reach out the hand not holing a gun towards a koala. My hand immediately hits something. Something invisible but still there. I push on whatever it is, and sure enough the air around my hand shimmers and then my hand is on the other side.

"Must be a force field of some sort." Betty mutters as I pull my hand back through.

I let that sink in for a moment before turning to Darcy. "And it might be the cause of our dead zone."

I take the offered phone and warily push it through the force field.

I smile as it lights up, but I quickly backpedal as a kangaroo snarls at my hand.

"So it is our dead zone. In order to get help, we need to be outside of it."

"But outside of it has rabid marsupials." Jane points out.

"Right." I nod in agreement. "But maybe we don't need to be outside of it, necessarily."

Betty smiles as she picks up my train of thought. "Maybe we just need a hole."

I let my 'mad genius' side show as I turn to Jane and Betty. "Are you two thinking-"

"-what you're thinking?" Betty grins.

"Most likely." Jane agrees.

All three of our eyes twinkle with genius as we start in the other direction.

"Time to blow a hole in this thing."

**A~A~A**

"Clint, give me that – to your left, right there!"

I pass the weird looking gadget to Tony as he fiddles with a computer.

"What are you doing again?"

"I," Tony looks up from his work, "am making a honing beacon that finds the signal of a tracker I put in Taylor's shoe."

"Is that not just a little stalker-like?"

Tony shrugs as he bends back over the device. "She's my daughter, I'm allowed to track her."

I just sigh and lean back onto a work table littered with blueprints and metal.

"But won't the tracker be blocked?" Steve asks from his place by the door.

Tony sighs as he looks up again. "I sure hope not. This is a last ditch effort. If it fails, we have to rely on the girls to fight their way home."

An uneasy silence settles over the lab, only punctured by the occasional clink of metal on metal and a few muttered swears.

"I'm going to go get something to eat. Be right back."

I walk out of the lab, not waiting for anyone to hear what I said, and slowly make my way towards the kitchen.

I grab some cold takeout from the fridge and slump onto a barstool one it's reheated.

What would Taylor do? If it was me stranded out there? Would she keep a cools head or freak and run around like a headless chicken?

I slurp the last of my noodles and throw the empty carton into the trash.

I highly doubt Taylor would be acting like a headless chicken. She would more than likely be down there with her dad, putting her all towards achieving the goal at hand.

I've never seen her do less.

_Please don't break that pattern now, Taylor._

**A/N**

**What did you think of the split chapter? **

**Review with you thoughts! Or just review. Because reviews are awesome.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Darcy hissed, crouched beside me.

"Nope. Hand me that lock pick."

I take the lock pick and insert it into the electronic store's lock, twisting it ever so slightly.

"And…we are in! Jane, Betty, grab the transmitters. Natasha, give me that laptop right there. Darcy, go raid the electronic tape."

The girls scurry around the store as I join Betty and Jane in the center where they are assembling the device.

"So the object here is to heat up the ions in the air between rings A and B," I gesture towards the makeshift blueprints I had drawn on the back of someone's paperwork, "which will release a beam of supercharged particles straight towards the force field."

"Right." Betty nods. "And then a signal will be open for about two and a half minutes."

"In which time," Jane cuts in, "you need to be able to send a message to a satellite, which will hopefully deflect it to the intended recipient back in New York."

I nod and open the laptop, perching on a counter as Jane and Betty build the machine, offering m help as needed.

Twenty minutes later, I slide out from under the monstrosity Darcy has dubbed the 'Force field hole puncher' and check on the laptop.

"Coding is a go."

"Ring A is a go."

"So is a Ring B."

"The particle heater is ready."

"Natasha, are you and Darcy secure?"

"Yes." Natasha's voice rings out from under the cashier's desk.

"Is this going blow up?"

"Yes, Darcy, did you expect much else?"

"Oh. Um, no, now that I think about it."

"Political science majors, everybody." Jane says sarcastically.

"See, this is why I did mechanical engineering." I mutter.

"Alright, are all systems a go?"

"Affirmative."

"Commencing in three….two…one!"

Jane slams her hand down onto a button in her hand and she and Betty scramble back as the air around the device gets hotter and hotter.

The rings at the top glow with a red-orange heat and a low hum fills the air as the glow changes to blue, not unlike the Tesseract, and the humming turns into a deafening shriek as the two rings' light combines with a whoosh and a beam of light shoots through the ceiling.

"Taylor, now!"

My fingers fly over the keys as I type in the code.

_Code_type_=message /send_

_Code_ send /to: [AE_5tARk]_

"Two minutes!"

_MESSAGE=break_

_S0S-HELP!_

_Unit: females _danger _animals; _send: help_ ASAP/_

_5X5 mi _sig _block/EMP_

"One minute, Taylor!"

__ break- /MESSAGE_

_Action: [send_ now]_

__confirmed: true__

"Thirty seconds!"

_[Send _status= wait]_

"Twenty! Hurry!"

_[Send _status= true]_

"Ten! Get down!"

Someone grabs me and yanks me away from the laptop just as the beam deactivates and the device explodes in a bonfire level of heat.

Once the explosion dies down to leave only the crackling of flames and the smell of burnt plastic and metal, I peer out from behind the shelving unit.

"Is it over?"

"Yeah, Darcy, come on out."

I offer a hand to Jane – most likely the one who tackled me – and help her up.

We rejoin the others in the center area, where we are greeted by a ten-foot wide circle of ash.

Darcy lets out a low whistle as she turns to Jane. "This has to be the craziest mad science spree of all time."

Jane just shrugs.

"Did the signal send?" Betty asks from her crouch a few feet away.

"I hope so." I reply, glancing at the laptop, which was reduced to a pile of melted goo.

"I really, really hope so."

**A~A~A**

"Clint, quit pacing already!"

"How can I? The girls are out there-"

"Yes, I know, I'm sure they'll be fine."

"How, Steve? Is it a new "power" of yours?"

"Hey! I-"

His remark is cut off by Jarvis's urgent tone.

"Mr. Barton, Capitan Rogers, Sir requests your presence in the lab immediately."

Steve and I share one last glance before bolting for the stairs.

Once in the lab, we are greeted by a bouncing Tony in front of a monitor, shouting something about Taylor being a genius.

"Tony!" Steve shouts. "What is going on?"

"They got through! Taylor got the signal through!"

"What? How?"

"Show the message!"

"Jarvis, you heard Steve, show the class!"

We're all so excited we ignore Stark's snarky remark. All five of us gather around the lit up monitor as the message appears.

[_S0S- HELP!_

_Unit: females_ danger_ animals; _send: help_ ASAP/_

_5X5mi_sig_block/EMP_]

"Um, what?" Steve and I send confused glances towards Bruce and Tony, who are lit up like Christmas trees.

"Taylor told us – in programming code – that the girls are faced with dangerous animals and a signal black that is ten meters in diameter and five miles high. If we fly above five meters – which we most certainly can – we (and by _we_ I mean everyone but me) can drop in and save the day."

"Why not you, Tony?"

"Taylor also told us the block was an EMP. EMPs mess up my suit and reactor like you wouldn't believe."

Steve nods and begins to pace the room. "So we can just fly the plane in and swoop down and save the day?"

Tony nods.

Then a thought come to mind. "What will the girls think of that?"

Tony rolls his eyes. "Who cares right now? Not me. We need to save them and get them out before someone gets hurt."

I nod uneasily.

"Now, Cap, scramble the jet, I will get the weapons, Clint gather the team and be on the roof in ten. We are going to Australia.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

After deserting the now destroyed electronics store, we began walking back towards the force field to hunker down and await help, if the message even sent.

We were walking for about a block when Betty stepped in the kangaroo poop.

"Ew! EW, ew, ew! What _is _that?" She whined as she hopped awkwardly backward on one foot.

I wrinkle my nose as I look at the glowing pile of…yeah.

"Well it sure doesn't look normal." Natasha comments from where she is crouched beside me, unflappable as ever.

"Maybe a dog ate a weird mushroom?" Darcy suggests from behind us.

I shake my head. "Unlikely. The only animals we have seen since the bar are…"

"…the rabid kangaroos! Well, crap." Jane groans from behind Betty.

"Yes, Jane, nice word choice. I don't think the signal was the only thing that got through."

"Which means we now have rabid marsupials roaming the street. Weapons out, girls." Natasha says as she scans the street for threats and readies her knife.

"Come on, we need to move." I mutter as I draw my gun and start down the street, my companions falling into the same formation as before.

"Taylor?"

"Yes?"

"Are we going to be okay?"

I glance at Darcy. "Just fine Darcy, don't worry. You'll get to see Steve again."

"Hey! That man has the shoulder to hip ratio of a Dorito! Can you blame me?"

I shrug. "Well, if patriotism and innocence are your thing. I prefer lean, mean, grey-eyed machines."

"Course you do, bolt bucket."

I laugh lightly. It echoes down the street.

"Hey Taylor, what's that on your two o'clock?" Natasha asks from my right.

My gaze follows her pointing finger to the side of a building about thirty feet away.

And then my eyes register that _hey, that shadow is moving!_

I gesture for Natasha, Jane, Betty, and Darcy to wait here while I begin to walk towards the shadow, my gun primed.

I creep around the corner of the building…

…and come face to face with a dog-sized crazed koala.

It leaps us at me and I fire two rounds into its chest.

And it _keeps moving._

I turn and run back to the girls. "It is not a cuddly bear! I repeat, not cuddly!"

Betty quickly fires two shots in its eye…and then it falls limp.

"Huh?" I tilt my head. "How come your shot killed it but mine didn't?"

Betty frowns. "I guess we can check it…but be careful!"

I crouch next to the koala, careful to avoid the foaming puddle of saliva gathering beneath it, and poke it until it flops on to its stomach.

"See, that," Betty points to an area between the shoulder blades, "is where your shot exited. My shots, however, angled and exited here." She points to a spot where the base of the head meets the back of the neck.

"Weak point, do you think?"

Natasha shrugs. "Well, the shot took it down, so it is better than nothing."

"Hey Taylor," Jane speaks up, "isn't that near where your nano bots got injected?"

I nod as I reach up to touch the injection site, at the base of my own skull.

"Ironic, isn't it?"

Jane nods and opens her mouth to say something, but she's cut off by Darcy's frantic yell.

"Guys!" she screams while jabbing a finger down the street.

We all turn our attention to following her finger and see what has her so worked up.

A pack of stampeding, rabies-infected marsupials, that's what.

"_Run!"_

**A~A~A**

"What's our altitude, Clint?"

"We're at 32,000 feet, Tony. I don't advise diving." I tell him as I peer through the jet cockpit widows to the red and gold suit.

"I won't. Five miles is 26,400 feet, so we have 5,600 feet left until we drop like stones in water. Ease her down, Clint."

I let the jet descend ever so slowly.

"26,500! Stop!"

I hover the jet again, only one hundred feet away from the dead zone.

"So how do we get from _here,_" Steve asks from the co-pilot's seat as he gestures around the plane, "to down _there?_" He points out the window, towards the dark streets of Australia.

I frown as my eyes sweep the streets below us for any sign of the girls.

"Tony, could you fly us down?" Steve asks.

"No." Bruce interjects. "The dead zone affects the suit."

"What he said. Could Big Green jump out with us?"

Now I intersect. "That might not be the brightest of ideas. We have zero idea what is down there or who is behind it. I would rather avoid risking Hulk or Bruce."

Bruce nods gratefully. "I second that. Could Thor fly us down?"

We all look towards Thor with questioning gazes.

"Let me check. I will return." Thor assures us as he pushes the button for the ramp.

"Thor, no-" Steve starts, but Thor is gone in a whirlwind before he can be convinced otherwise.

We all hold our breath as we wait for Thor's scarlet cape to become visible.

And then it does.

"There!" I exclaim, being the first to spot it.

Steve, Bruce, Tony and I cheer as Thor lands again on the ramp.

"It is safe. I will only be able to carry one at a time, though."

Steve nods. "Alright, guys, gather your stuff. Tony, I suggest getting out of the suit so it doesn't freeze up when we hit the dead zone."

"Roger that." Tony comes in and lands next to Thor on the ramp, quickly disassembling his suit. Once it's a suitcase, he sets it off to the side and walks over to Steve and Bruce.

"The plane is on autopilot, set to hover until manual is put back on." I announce as I unbuckle myself and strap on my bow, quiver, and gloves, and grab Taylor's just in case.

Tony does the same with her suit, condensed as a black briefcase, as Steve grab Natasha's bag of guns and his shield.

Everyone seems hesitant to exit the plane, so I summon all my S.H.I.E.L.D. training as walk forward.

"Come on guys, we've got dates with our better halves."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Our feet slammed into the asphalt again and again as we ran for our lives from a pack of Australian mammals with mad dog disease.

For the record, this is _not _how I wanted this night to end up.

Add the fact that half of us were running in heels or wedges. Darcy had ditched her wedges long ago, Betty was briskly jogging in her three inch heels, Jane (luckily) was wearing flats, and Natasha and I were both wearing kitten heels and running as fast as we could.

"How long can we keep this up?" Darcy pants from behind Betty.

"How long do we need to?" I shout back.

"Until we see help or the rabid things tire out or flop over and die!" I'm jealous that Natasha's voice is steady like she's been doing this for thirty seconds, not what must be closer to thirty minutes.

"Wonderful." Jane's voice shakes, both with fear and exhaustion.

I turn my eyes to the sky, praying that the hawk-like sight of my boyfriend came _after_ he started archery.

Nothing.

But I do spot an abandoned warehouse off in the back of a small side street.

"Head down this road to the warehouse! Move it!"

We all eventually make it to the shady concrete building, diving inside just as the rabid pack stampedes past us.

I untangle myself from the pile that we ended up in on the musty, moldy floor as take a look around our temporary hidey hole.

And come face to face with the barrel of a gun. Held by the shaking hands on a yellow toothed, red eyed hobo-looking person with drugs on his breath.

I put my hands us and motion for the rest of the group to do the same as we back up a few slow steps.

"Hey, hey, let's not do anything crazy, dude." I can feel Natasha's gaze on my back and trust in my hands.

"W-who are you fellas?" Hobo dude asks with chattering teeth and twitchy eyes.

"Us? We're just heroes." Faster than anyone can blink, I have my gun drawn and a shot blasted into the guy's forehead.

Everyone watches in stunned shock as the guy falls to the cement floor, dead before he hits the ground.

Betty is the first to regain her voice. "…Did you just kill an innocent civilian?"

I shake my head as I walk over towards the pile of blanket covered boxes behind the guy. "No, I did not. Look."

I throw back the blankets to reveal cubes of plastic wrapped green drugs (most likely weed) and Ziploc bags filled with white powders.

Natasha lets out a low whistle as she sees what I uncovered. "And you knew that was there how?"

I shrug. "A little bit of instinct and a little _'hey, something smells weird.'_"

Natasha nods and returns to the cooling body to pat him down and search for an ID.

"Eureka! Joseph Petiori. He has twenty two countries hunting for him as of right now. He is in the top five Most Wanted on five of those, including the US."

Darcy lets out a bitter chuckle. "Well, now I can check off 'Unknowingly take down a drug lord' off my bucket list."

I smile as Jane speaks up for the first time. "How are we going to report this? We can't use our phones and we can't afford to wait until we get out of the dead zone."

I begin to pace, listening to my heels click and clack as I think of a solution.

"That's it!" I snap my fingers. "Does anyone have a pen and paper?"

Betty fishes an old sticky note from her small dress pockets as Darcy hands me a pen. I scribble a note –

_Uncle Rhodey-_

_I happened to stumble across Joseph Petiori and his stash with friends the other day. You're welcome and you owe me cake._

_-Taylor_

\- before tucking the sticky note under one of the bags and unclipping the necklace I was wearing.

I press my thumb onto the purple plastic jewel in the center and it pops open to reveal a compartment with a small black device fit snugly inside.

I glance up to be met with four confused looks.

"A transmitting tracker." I explain. "It'll send a signal to two people: my dad and Colonel James Rhodes, my uncle and godfather."

"But won't the dead zone block it?" Betty asks with narrowed eyes.

"Yes. But the second the dead zone is no more, it will send and emergency signal to Rhodey."

"How do you know he'll come?"

"Because this is a shady warehouse in the backstreets of Australia. I just know he will."

They nods as I turn back to the tracker. I flip a tiny red switch to send it into emergency response mode – so the signal will go automatically – and set it on top of the note.

"Does anyone hear that?"

I lift my head at Natasha's question and I do hear the quiet _thump-thump_ of helicopter blades.

"I'll go see if it's friendly!" I shout over the rising noise. "Wait here! Natasha, with me!"

Tasha nods as she follows me up the stairs and onto the roof.

I shield my eyes against the blinding spotlight as I try to make out any distinguishing logos.

Before I make any real progress, my eyes register the gun pointed at me and I dive to avoid the strafe of bullets pelting the roof.

"Well, it's not friendly!"

"So what do we do about that?"

I stay silent as a light bulb suddenly goes on in my head and I smile.

"You're going to think I'm crazy in a second." I tell Natasha as I slip my feet out of my shoes and thrust them at her, leaving me barefoot. "Hold these."

Natasha just shrugs as she takes the heels. "Nothing new. But what are you doing?"

I let a devilish smile overtake my face. "Just wait and see."

I take a running start towards the edge of the warehouse roof as I leap forward towards the chopper.

My right fist closes around the bottom rails and I use my remaining momentum to swing myself up into the underbelly of the chopper.

I glance down to see Natasha staring at me, slightly dumbfounded. "So care to explain?"

"Taking control!" I shout as the helicopter whisks me away and down the streets of Australia as I shimmy my way to the door.

Something makes me snap my head down again as we pass a major street about two miles from the bar.

I smile when I catch a glimpse of red fabric, a hammer, streaks of red, white, and blue, and a blue glowing dot.

The cavalry has arrived.

**A~A~A**

The first thing I see when my feet hit the ground is a koala foaming at the mouth and barreling at me. I ready my bow, but there's no need because it freezes and goes limp.

And I have never been so happy to see a woman wielding a gun.

"Oh thank _god._" Betty exclaims as she lowers her weapon, nodding at Steve, Tony, and Thor as they jog over. "We were getting worried." She glances around and then frowns slightly. "Where's-"

"In the jet. Didn't want to risk him." I cut her off, answering her unfinished question. "Where is everyone?"

She just motions for us to follow as she jogs down a side street. Her gun is still out, so I notch an arrow and hand a gun to Tony.

Five minutes and two kangaroo corpses later, we enter an abandoned warehouse. Betty leads us through a drug scented room, past the body in the corner, and up the stairs to the roof, where Jane, Natasha, and Darcy and looking at something in the sky.

Thor rushes forward to hug his girlfriend and I smile at Tasha, but I frown as I look at the line up in front of me and I consider what I'm _not _seeing.

"Where is Taylor?"

Natasha just stays silent as she fixes me with a strange look and points skywards.

I follow her finger and let my eyes focus on the moving shadow zooming past above us.

It takes only a second for me to register the lithe figure clinging to the underside of the copter.

"Holy crap!"

It takes another second for me to register who it is.

"Holy _crap_."

Why, Taylor?

**A/N**

**Review, review, review, please!**

**Reviews are coming at a trickle and it is making me sad. :(**

**I don't want to be sad. So please review!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

I glance over my shoulder as someone shouts on the ground and I almost sigh in relief when I see Steve, Thor, Clint, and my dad standing alongside the girls staring up at my little daredevil acrobatic stunts.

I look for a little longer than I should, because I soon feel my hands start to slip.

I clench my teeth as I clench my fists around the rungs and pull myself up onto a rung the helicopter, shoving my legs through so I am sitting on the rung like you would a railing. I curl my left hand around a beam that attaches the rung to the body of the helicopter as I curl out of sight and stare up at the blades, wondering how I can take this down without going home in a body bag.

My eyes widen as the blades whip by in front of my eyes and I ease my right hand towards the back waistband of my dress, where my gun is pressed against my back.

I slip out my gun and make sure that it is loaded with the right amount of bullets before aiming it to my left, right at the fuel tank.

One shot is all it takes for there to be a perfect little hole in the gas cover and therefore the gas tank. The copter shudders as black fluid begins pouring out of the newly made puncture wound, and I know I have to get off fast.

I aim my gun again, this time at the blurred blades above my head. I stay focused on them for a minute, letting my eyes adjust to the quick, repetitive movement as I line up my shot.

Two bullets. That is all I have against helicopter blades moving too fast for even my agile brain to follow. And I need them to work _now_.

The odds must hate me.

I shake myself out of my thoughts and steady my hands and mind for the shot.

_Bang._

I just barely hear the bullet ricochet with a metallic _ping_. The helicopter does rock unsteadily though, so something is better than nothing.

I tense as I line up the last shot. I inhale….

_Bang._

I duck to avoid the piece of a blade that snapped off and cheer quietly as the helicopter rocks, shakes, and shudders before falling still.

And then just plain falling.

I pull my legs up and stand on the rung, my stomach and heart in my throat as I begin to calculate the distance from here to the ground and where the safest landing place would be.

"Taylor!" That's Natasha screaming. "You need to jump! Now!"

I bite my lip as I continue calculating distances and angles and curves-

"We will catch you! Now, Taylor!"

I exhale and close my eyes as I Edge towards the edge of the rung, bend my knees, let go, and jump.

I freefall for what feels like forever, feeling like I left my stomach on the chopper, and curl into an armadillo-like ball, dropping the gun, as I prepare for certain death.

Except it never comes.

Once my brain registers the stop in movement, I crack open a hesitant eye to be met with four sets over concerned and relived eyes.

Natasha's scarlet hair and emerald orbs are positioned over my head, Betty's chocolate eyes and hair are on the left of ribs and back, Jane's caramel eyes are on my right, and I can barely make out Darcy's glasses by my feet.

Judging by the fact that I'm still supported and there are knots pressing into my back, I'd say they've locked arms and made a human hammock of sorts.

I don't truly care as long as I'm somehow not dead.

I sag in relief against Natasha, and I can feel her chin on my head as I work to regain my legs.

Once I do, I'm gently eased onto my feet. Darcy links her arm with mine, and she goes to tug me towards the jet, but we don't get too far, seeing as I'm soon half tackled, half smothered by someone smelling of leather, wood, shampoo, and spice.

I recognize who it is a second before their lips are on mine in a kiss full of worry and desperation and security and relief and all the other emotions Clint can't say out loud.

I barely recognize Darcy slipping her arm out of mine and stepping a few feet away as my boyfriend wraps his arms around my waist and just holds me to make sure I'm alive.

I eventually need to breathe, so I pull away and rest my head on Clint's shoulder. "I'm okay, Clint. I'm alive, it's okay."

"Why does everything happen to us, Taylor?"

"Part of the job description?"

Clint pulls away and looks at me, puzzled. "Was this in your contract, with the rabies and all? Cause I can get a lawyer on that."

I laugh and shove his shoulder playfully.

He smiles and laces our hands. "Now come on, the jet-"

"Un-uh!" Darcy marches back up to my side with an indignant remark. "Nope. Girl's night isn't over yet, lover boy!"

I laugh as she pulls me towards the jet, Clint doing the same when I look back.

We end up surrounded again by Tasha, Jane, and Betty, all of which look relieved and exhausted, their guns probably forgotten on the street.

Tasha and Darcy each throw and arm around my shoulders. I smile as the night's events sink in.

"We did it. We actually did it." I breathe in an awestruck whisper.

Each of the girls nod slowly as it all sinks in and we come together in a giant group hug, jumping up and down and laughing like idiots.

"Taylor?"

"Yeah, Jane?"

"Back in the warehouse, you called _us_ heroes. Didn't you mean girlfriends of heroes?"

I smile and shake my head. "No. With what we did tonight, we found some new heroes in odd places."

**A~A~A**

**Still Taylor's POV**

Once safely on the jet, I give my dad a bear hug and collapse into a seat with Darcy on my left, Jane on my right, and Clint across from me. Betty is sitting next to Bruce and my dad on Clint's left, Thor is next to Jane, and Natasha and Steve are flying the plane.

"So," Bruce speaks up. "What exactly happened?"

The girls and I grin and share a twinkling glance as Darcy starts the story.

"Well, it all started with a bar and some drinks…."

We all take turns retelling our night. The guys grin at our weapons distribution method, I can hear Steve's wince over the PA system as we encounter the animals for the first time, and Bruce and Tony bounce in their seats as Jane, Betty, and I describe the machine. They all look fearful when we describe the stampede and curious when we mention the warehouse.

As soon as I'm finished telling the part about finding Joe the drug dealer, my dad cuts in.

"How did you deal with that? Do you have illegal drugs tucked somewhere?" He looks my up and down with narrowed eyes.

I shake my head. "No. I left Rhodey a bright punk note and used my necklace transmitter on emergency broadcast. As soon as the shield goes down, he should be on his way."

My dad nods, satisfied, and sits back as Betty goes on to tell about my "stupid decision of the year award winning move" of helicopter jumping. My dad and Clint pale and look like they're going to keel over from heart attacks by the time Darcy wraps up the story.

"You know," Steve's voice echoes through the cabin, "Taylor sounds like an amazing commander."

"Yes! The Lady of Iron seems to be a worthy general of men!" Thor's voice reverberates around the plane.

We all give him 'the look'.

"Eh, women, my apologies."

All the girls glance at each other and nod before looking at me.

I blush and scratch my neck. "Um, I, uh, didn't-"

"Yes, you did." Darcy stops my stuttering reply. "You came, you saw, you lead, and you kicked major Australian butt."

The rest of the girls agree as I nod. "Okay, so, next time, who wants Steve to come as our gay best friend?"

The decision is unanimous.

"Hey Steve, guess what?"

"What?"

"You're gay now. Hope that's okay."

"Wait, _what?_"

The laughter is also unanimous.

I lean into Darcy as I look around the plane at the high-heeled heroes I led today.

My troops, I guess. Kinda.

And they're right. I stepped up and led and we saved Australia and possibly the world tonight.

And the crazy thing is: I would lead them into battle again. Anytime.

Except first, another girl's night.

With less rabies.

And much more alcohol.

**A/N**

**All done! Hope you enjoyed. By the way, I'm thinking of doing another book (like, actual book, not short story) with my take on the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. It'll go more in depth with Taylor's past and it should happen when she's eighteen or nineteen at the most.**

**It should be called **_**What to do when your world explodes.**_

**Keep and eye out for that, but don't forget to read and review this! **


	10. MAJOR AUTHOR'S NOTE

**Major Author's note! Important!**

**As of today, it has one year since I started writing my first book, **_**Iron Beta: Life as Tony Stark's Daughter**_**. One year. **

**I would like to give a huge thank-you to every person that's ever reviewed, favorited, or followed any of my stories, because there's actually quite a lot of you and you have **_**no idea **_**how much I appreciate all of you.**

**And now, a quick update. **

_**Iron Beta**_** 'verse (canon!Avengers): **_**Dissension**_**, the latest story in this verse, is coming along smoothly. I am accepting requests for one shots, please PM me if you have a request. And keep reviewing, following, etc.**

_**Saved by the Bell**_** 'verse (teacher AU Avengers): consider this verse on hiatus because my muse for that story died. Sorry for all of you that liked that story, but I am taking requests for other AUs as well. PM me or review with an AU idea.**

_**Whispers in the Dark**_** (canon!Harry Potter): this should be getting updated fairly smoothly. The only problem I have with this is that fact that I am literally getting almost no reviews. Do you guys not like this? What's your stance? PLEASE TELL ME. **

**If anyone has any questions, comments, concerns, suggestions, or the like, please PM me, review, or email me at ironsparrow99 [at symbol] gmail . com. **

**Thanks,**

**IronSparrow99.**


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